Pumpkin Coffeecake with Pepitas

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Food shouldn't be complicated. Or bad for you. Or expensive. I'm working to craft good cheap eats that we can both enjoy. You can read more about this site here. Check out my cookbooks if you're needing some budget-friendly inspiration. Read about how to make healthy eating work for you here.

This Pumpkin Coffeecake with Pepitas features a dense, moist cake, topped with a sugar crumb topping dotted with salty pepitas. It promises to be a winner at your house this fall.

Last winter I found canned organic pumpkin for 50 cents a can. I stocked up and thereby provided myself with dozens of cans. Dozens. We can eat pumpkin until the cows come home.

And we just might.

But, my stash won’t last long if I keep making things like this Pumpkin Coffeecake. Kind of a combination of coffeecake and pumpkin pie, this cake is rich and moist and very flavorful. The pepitas (pumpkin seeds) and sugar crumb top add a nice crunch totally in keeping with the theme of the cake.

Why have I never thought to use pepitas (pumpkin seeds) in pumpkin baked goods before? Well, nuts are delicious, that’s why. You could easily substitute your favorite kind of chopped nut for the pepitas. However, since my daughter has a nut allergy, I was so pleased to find pepitas to be a great, crunchy substitute for nuts.

How I make this good:

Whenever possible I like to cook with plain old ingredients. While the convenience of mixes and canned sauces is nice, I feel better about feeding my family just real food whenever possible. (Go here for some of my reasons on all that.)

While it would certainly be “easier” to buy a coffeecake mix at the store, I prefer to do my baking from scratch. You’d be surprised to know that it really isn’t that much more work to measure out your ingredients. You’ll notice that you can pretty much pronounce every ingredient on this list!

I like to use whole wheat pastry flour whenever I can. It has a similar texture to unbleached, all-purpose flour, but with added nutrition from the whole grain.

There is a fair amount of sugar in this cake, but trust me when I say that it isn’t overly sweet. And you need a good dose of it in the sugar toppings.

How I make this cheap:

Here are some of the strategies I use to make this recipe more economical:

Do a price comparison. I know that Costco is the best place to buy ingredients like milk and eggs when there isn’t a great sale elsewhere. I keep track of prices so that I know who has the best deal where.

Stock up on ingredients when they are on sale. For instance, when I see a great price on canned pumpkin, I buy a lot. A lot. The best time to stock up on this is after Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. If you try to find a good deal on pumpkin in August, you will be sadly disappointed.

Use more affordable alternatives. You don’t have to use canned pumpkin. Butternut squash puree works just as well. As do plain mashed sweet potatoes. If those ingredients are more affordable, make the switch!

Having the right kitchen tools can really make your time in the kitchen more enjoyable. Over time, I’ve honed my collection so that they are perfect for my needs. Here are the tools that I like to use in this recipe.

Pumpkin Coffeecake with Pepitas

This Pumpkin Coffeecake with Pepitas features a dense, moist cake, topped with a sugar crumb topping dotted with salty pepitas. It promises to be a winner at your house this fall.
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes
Total time: 65 minutes8 to 12 servingsIngredients:

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

2 cups dark brown sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 egg

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup roasted pepitas or pumpkin seeds

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350°. Spray a 9-inch round baking pan (I used a spring form for prettier serving) with nonstick cooking spray.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, brown sugar, and butter. Pulse until coarse crumbs form.

I’m curious. How do you get the pepitas? Are you shelling the pumpkin seeds? Do they need to be roasted first? I’m asking because I hate throwing the seeds away, but my kids haven’t liked them in the shells. I was hoping maybe they would eat them as pepitas.

@Barb @ A Life in Balance, I just buy them in a bag at Trader Joe’s. I don’t really mess with fresh pumpkin. I have in the past, but I got organic canned for so cheap last year, I haven’t needed to try it another way.

Yum! I made 2 of these tonight to have with breakfast tomorrow AM (we have company in town). Very good. I did experiment with one and added probably at least 1/2 cup of raisins to the batter (I just dumped what was left of bag). Good either way! Love the crunch of the pepitas! Ha, ha. Everyone else was in bed or not home so I got the first slice. 😉

Can’t wait to make this! Wondering if you thought It would turn out alright if I made the batter the night before, put it in the fridge overnight (in the baking dish), and popped it in the oven the next morning? Thanks for the great recipes and menu plans!!!

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